Fracture assessment of large-scale structural components through the selection of matching small-scale laboratory specimens

We are recruiting new Doctoral Researchers to our EPSRC funded Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) PhD studentships starting 1 October 2023. Applications are invited for the project Fracture assessment of large-scale structural components through the selection of matching small-scale laboratory specimens

Successful applicants will receive an annual stipend (bursary) of approximately £19,668, including inner London weighting, plus payment of their full-time home tuition fees for a period of 42 months (3.5 years).

You should be eligible for home (UK) tuition fees there are a very limited number (no more than three) of studentships available to overseas applicants, including EU nationals, who meet the academic entry criteria including English Language proficiency.

You will join the internationally recognised researchers in the Department of Mechanical Engineering research and PhD programmes | Brunel University London

The Project

The aim of this project is to improve the correlation between fracture toughness from small-scale laboratory specimens and large-scale components. It is expected to develop an analytical approach to determine the size of various fracture specimens and their crack lengths resulting in a crack-tip stress state similar to that in a real cracked structural component. The approach will be validated by performing fracture toughness tests and finite element simulation of fracture specimens and large-scale components.

Please contact Dr Marius Gintalas at Marius.Gintalas@brunel.ac.uk for an informal discussion about the studentships.

Eligibility

Applicants will have or be expected to receive a first or upper-second class honours degree in an Engineering, Computer Science, Design, Mathematics, Physics or a similar discipline. A Postgraduate Masters degree is not required but may be an advantage.

Skills and Experience

Applicants will be required to demonstrate their ability to use or willingness to learn the commercial finite element software Abaqus or an alternative open-source package for modelling of cracked bodies. Knowledge of solid mechanics, theoretical fracture mechanics and experimental methods for measuring fracture mechanics parameters is desirable. 

You should be highly motivated, able to work independently as well as in a team, collaborate with others and have good communication skills.

How to apply

There are two stages of the application:

1.Applicants must submit the pre-application form via the following link https://brunel.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/epsrc-dtp-23-24-pre-application-form-brunel-university-lon-3 by 16.00 on Friday 26th May 2023.

2.If you are shortlisted for the interview, you will be asked to email the following documentation in a single PDF file to cedps-studentships@brunel.ac.uk within 24hrs.

Your up-to-date CV;
Your Undergraduate degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) essential;
Your Postgraduate Masters degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) if applicable;
Your valid English Language qualification of IELTS 6.5 overall (minimum 6.0 in each section) or equivalent, if applicable;
Contact details for TWO referees, one of which can be an academic member of staff in the College.

Applicants should therefore ensure that they have all of this information in case they are shortlisted.

Interviews will take place in June 2023.

Meet the Supervisor(s)

Marius Gintalas - Dr Marius Gintalas obtained his doctoral degree in Mechanical Engineering studying fracture toughness measurement methods under impact load. He continued research in fracture mechanics field on crack tip constraint in specimens and large scale pipes as a postdoctoral research associate at Manchester University. Later, Marius joined the University of Cambridge for his second postdoctoral project. He worked on characterisation of heavily plastically deformed martensitic carbon steel using transmission electron microscopy and synchrotron radiation. Also, analysed strengthening mechanisms in non-deformed and deformed quenched and tempered martensite. Marius joined The Welding Institute (TWI) Ltd as a senior project leader after postdoctoral period of five years. In 2020 returned to academia as a lecturer at Brunel University, National Structural Integrity Research Centre (NSIRC).

Related Research Group(s)

Mechanics of Solids and Structures - Internationally leading research in the areas of experimental testing and computational modelling of solids and structures.